February, 2004 - Nr. 2
Headline
by Herwig Wandschneider
Joint German-Canadian Business Associations Meeting in Toronto
For the first time, members of the two German-Canadian Business and Professional Associations (GCBPA) of Toronto and of Kitchener-Waterloo (K-W) officially met in late January at a "New Year’s Networking Meeting".
The Meeting was organized by the Toronto GCBPA in cooperation with the K-W GCBPA, the Swiss-Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Ontario) and the Austrian Trade Commission under the Patronage of the Consul General of Germany, Dr. Klaus Rupprecht.
![Lively exchange of business ideas [photo: Rick Weiss]](402c-HW1_08a.jpg)
K-W
GCBPA members and guests arrived by bus and cars to get to know their
Toronto counterparts, the Consul General of Germany, and Swiss and Austrian
Trade Representatives in this two-hour cocktail gathering. During this time
the participants had an opportunity to get to know each other, discuss items
of mutual interest, and develop ideas for future cooperation.
Also, an impressive video was presented, which summarized the German Festival held in September/October 2003, and participants witnessed the presentation of a significant cheque made out to the Toronto German School.
Special guests from K-W included Mr. Tony Bergmeier, President of the German-Canadian Congress (National), Wayne Wettlaufer, former PC MPP who authored the bill in the Ontario Legislature to make the day after Thanksgiving officially "German Pioneers Day" in the Province of Ontario, and Dr. David John, Chair of the German and Slavic Languages Department at the University of Waterloo.
In the words of Jan Heck, President of the GCBPA (Toronto): "We welcome the impressive turnout from K-W and gladly accept to visit a K-W event later this year".
